Claudette Olivier / Church Point News
Church Point Police Chief Dale Thibodeaux has requested the U.S. Marshals Service’s assistance in locating an Opelousas man who is wanted on six counts of attempted second degree murder as well as a juvenile who is wanted on accessory charges.
Thibodeaux said, “The mayor and I have been in contact, and I have also been in contact with quite a few of the council people. We have had our share of shootings in the city. Everywhere else is having the same problem.
“We had one last week. We solved it in a matter of 24 hours. We were able to get warrants of arrest. The guy is still on the run, two of them are still on the run, and I have called the U.S. Marshals Office to see if they can assist us in tracking them down because they have a lot more resources than we do.”
Christopher Freeman, 22, of Opelousas, and a 16-year-old juvenile are both wanted by the police following a shooting that occurred on Feb. 22. In a Feb. 25 news release, Anyone knowing Freeman’s location is asked to call the police at 337-684-5455 or local law enforcement.
Thibodeaux stated that the two individuals are also suspected in other shootings in the area.
which are still under investigation. Freeman is currently wanted on the attempted second degree murder charges as well as charges of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, illegal use of weapons and dangerous instrumentalities and convicted felon in possession of a firearm. The juvenile is wanted on six counts of accessory to attempted second degree murder. Thibodeaux stated that the juvenile also has pending charges in the district juvenile court for drug and weapons violations.
In the same news release, Thibodeaux stated that Freeman is known to be the leader of the street gang 5CM, a local gang consisting of juveniles and younger adults, and he is considered to be armed. Anyone knowing Freeman’s location is asked to call the police at 337-684-5455 or local law enforcement.
Thibodeaux’s request to the U.S. Marshals Service follows several recent shooting reports not only in Church Point, but also in Crowley, Rayne and one that occurred between Branch and Church Point.
Thibodeaux said some of these recent shootings may be linked.
“Some of the shootings, we have them here, they have them in Crowley, which it stems from this one or ours stem from that one or Rayne, so it kind of all ties in,” he said. “We have been working close together with these other departments (and) sheriff’s office detectives. I had a meeting with them Friday (Feb. 26). We are all working closer together to try to combine all the information we have.”
Thibodeaux spoke to the Church Point Town Council about the shootings during the council’s regular March meeting on March 1.
“For me to sit here and tell you our shootings are going to stop because of that (the request for U.S. Marshals Service assistance), no it won’t,” Thibodeaux said. “It’s going to continue. We’ve got a lot of juveniles walking the streets with guns.”
Thibodeaux said that last Saturday night, Feb. 27, the department conducted an operation following a report that a shooting was to occur at a party.
“We came out and we made sure and we chased people until 11 p.m. and we were able to prevent that,” he said. “We were able to get a gun and some drugs off the street, which is going to continue, but just to let y’all know, we are not having worse problems, in fact, we are little better than the rest of the towns. We are having issues, and we are doing our best to take care of these issues.”
Thibodeaux also said there are currently two gangs operating in Church Point.
“They are local, homegrown gangs,” he said. “We have been able to identify from photos (that) we have people from Opelousas that have infiltrated these gangs on one side and people from Lafayette also.”
Thibodeaux said he has met with district attorney’s office and area judges, but said he could not comment on the discussions. Thibodeaux did say that in speaking with DA’s office, depending on the severity of the crime, charges against juvenile suspects could be taken to a grand jury for the juvenile to be tried as an adult.
“They (the DA’s office) have assured me that they will give us as much help as they can,” Thibodeaux added.
Thibodeaux said he has implemented additional measures to increase safety in the town, including having the department’s dispatchers assist with general security in turn freeing up patrol officers so they can target problem areas. Thibodeaux said he is also utilizing the department’s reserves to increase the number of patrol units on the road.
“I am using every resource I have possible to be able to put more visibility on street,” he said. “Hopefully that makes it go away.”
During his Mayoral Report, Church Point Mayor Ryan “Spanky” Meche said, “I’d like to thank the police department. They have been working tirelessly for a while now on all the stuff that’s been going on in town. Believe, me there’s calls between me and the chief at all hours of the night. This is not something that we are sitting in our beds and we’ll handle it in the morning type stuff. It’s real and it’s real hard, but I have to commend Dale on that. He has done everything that I think anybody can do physically. He deserves every bit of praise on that.”
Ward 1 Councilwoman Christine Semien also extended her appreciation to Thibodeaux and the police department.
“I want to thank you and your police department for trying to keep our little town safe with all the shootings that are going on,” she said. “I know you guys have been working really hard and thank you for your time and your effort.”
During his report, Thibodeaux said that recent changes at the U.S. Department of Justice have lead to a change in the department’s use of force policy.
“In order to be able to apply for federal grants, the department updated its use of force policy,” he said. “The policy now includes: The department’s use of force policies adhere to all federal, state and local laws and that the agency maintains use of force policies that prohibit the use of chokeholds except in those situations where the use of deadly force is allowed by law.”
Thibodeaux also informed the council of the resignation of a patrol officer who resigned for personal reasons.
During the meeting, the council unanimously approved the following recommendations made by Thibodeaux:
• Provisional hire of one full time patrol officer.
• Move one reserve officer to part time reserve
• Temporary hire of one patrol officer to fill a recent vacancy, pending psych evaluation.